Last updated March 7, 2017 at 1:09 pm
There’s been a lot of commotion about #Budget2016 over the past couple of days and all was revealed last night.
Lucky (or unlucky – depending on your view) journos were locked up in Canberra in a room to read the budget before they were allowed to report on it at 7.30pm AEST last night.
Federal Treasurer Scott Morrison made his Budget speech in parliament and Twitter went wild.
As an industry heavily reliant on government support, the scientific community around Australia paid close attention to the Federal budget announcement. With last year’s #ideasboom, an announcement of $1.1 billion into the newly created National Innovation and Science Agenda (NISA) (as we previously reported on), expectations were high.
Let’s see if #Budget2016 backs up the talk about an #ideasboom putting science & innovation at the centre of our economic future with $$
— Dr Darren Saunders (@whereisdaz) May 3, 2016
Show me the money
The focus was clear from the get go.
Morrison say three key points to economic plan:
– Jobs & growth
– Fixing tax system
– LIVING WITHIN OUR MEANS #Budget2016
— BuzzFeedOz Politics (@BuzzFeedOzPol) May 3, 2016
Part of ensuring jobs and growth was the continual investment towards the NISA.
But there were a few other exciting points:
- Some of the budget measures announced include an additional $100.5 million in funding to Geoscience Australia to produce geographical modelling of mineral, petroleum and groundwater resources
- Antarctic science has also had a boost with an additional $200 million over 10 years from 2016-17 to support Australia’s presence in Antarctica
- Continued funding towards the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS) and the Medical Research Future Fund ensuring support in the medium to long term
- There were no clear direct budget measures relating to CSIRO, the National Health and Medical Research Council
Additional $16m in 17/18 and $24m in 18/19 for unis to adjust to changes in block grants #scipol #Budget2016
— Aust Academy Science (@Science_Academy) May 3, 2016
Funding for @DefenceScience about $21m lower in 19/20 compared with 2016. #scipol #Budget2016
— Aust Academy Science (@Science_Academy) May 3, 2016
New investment in @BOM_au still commercial in confidence #scipol #Budget2016
— Aust Academy Science (@Science_Academy) May 3, 2016
Govt to provide $171m to Reef Trust and Reef 2050 Plan through National Landcare Program #scipol #Budget2016
— Aust Academy Science (@Science_Academy) May 3, 2016
Budget papers suggest additional $145m for @aus_synchrotron from 2016/17 to 2019/20 #scipol #Budget2016
— Aust Academy Science (@Science_Academy) May 3, 2016
No change to Future Fellowships program, @arc_gov_au confirms. As flagged, program will continue with 100 Fellowships per year #Budget2016
— Aust Academy Science (@Science_Academy) May 4, 2016
What the experts said
The general consensus can be summed up in this tweet:
Good news: appear to be no significant cuts in science funding #scipol #Budget2016
— Aust Academy Science (@Science_Academy) May 3, 2016
You can imagine the budget elicited a few reactions.
Professor Andrew Holmes, President of The Australian Academy of Science, “the Government is maintaining support for the science budget: the Academy is pleased to see this indication of a long-term commitment to science in Australia.”
“We warmly welcome the announcement of additional funding for Australia’s Antarctic program. Australia is a leader in Antarctic science, and it’s great to see a long-term commitment like this.” There may be a slight irony in warmly welcoming research for one of the coldest environments on Earth. Still in light of recent climate change research cuts, a warm welcome may be appropriate after all.
“I’m delighted to see this major new investment from the Australian Government to undertake new modelling of mineral resources. The Academy identified the need for such work in this area through its UNCOVER project and it’s good to see the government responding in this way. Our mineral wealth has helped to sustain long-term economic growth in Australia. This announcement will help us find new mineral deposits and has the potential to deliver long-term economic gains for Australia.”
Some were a bit more cynical…
It’s a pretty sad day for Australia when the good news is no significant cuts in science funding #budget2016 #scipol https://t.co/WNMGqlHolt
— Dr Krystal (@dr_krystal) May 3, 2016
Relieving to hear – which is a sad reflection on our mindset https://t.co/WL7BRdyErs
— Dr Darren Saunders (@whereisdaz) May 3, 2016
So whilst there aren’t major disappointments, many scientists can stop holding their breath after the 2016 budget announcement. The positives announced last night should still ensure there will be some exciting research opportunities in Australia in the future.
Want to see the budget?
#Budget2016 has been released. You can access the Budget papers from https://t.co/F9lRT34iR7 pic.twitter.com/aUhSzQT6P9
— ato.gov.au (@ato_gov_au) May 3, 2016
Official website: http://budget.gov.au/
- Further reading: fantastic article “Budget 2016: Winners and losers” from ABC News
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